JULY 23, 2020
I lived on the second and third floors of a house with four girls, during my final year of Fashion College. Three of us were in fashion design and one was in fashion merchandising, although I always wondered why she didn’t pursue fashion design because she was a shoo-in with her expertise in clothing construction.
We all made things outside of our assignments for school. Whether it was refinishing a dresser painted with cheery yellow paint, knitting a sweater, making a silver necklace for a boyfriend, creating objects for the school Christmas bazaar or gifts for each other; there was a lot of creating going on.
cloth backgammon game, denim, red felt tabs with white snaps, red topstitching
When I met Jim, backgammon was a popular game among his university friends. The box that held the game was easily portable to the school pub and an affordable entertainment that offered an alternative way to converse with friends without going so heavily to drinks.
I made this folding backgammon game for Jim’s Christmas gift.
folded in thirds, opening up ©Janice Colbert 2020 c. 1978-1980
Backgammon, a game of skill, is an ancient game, older than chess, and is a member of one of the oldest classes of board games.
cloth backgammon board, plaid flannelette, denim and red felt; yellow cotton piping and border
Two players move their 15 checkers (game pieces) around twenty-four triangular points according to the throw of two dice, the winner being the first to remove all their pieces from the board.
15 red felt and 15 denim checkers, yellow blanket-stitch seams, D.M.C. embroidery cotton
I made a storage bag for the checkers and dice.
‘LOVE JAN’ text on denim storage bag, chain stitch embroidery, D.M.C. yellow embroidery cotton, plaid flannelette drawstring, red topstitching, 15 red and 15 blue checkers, dice
The present was a complete surprise! Merry Christmas always Jim.